Europe has launched the latest spacecraft in its next-generation series of meteorological satellites. The two-tonne, cylinder-shaped MSG-2 will observe the changing weather over Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The spacecraft represents a step-change in performance over the early Meteosat platforms first designed in the 1970s. MSG-2 was blasted into space as part of a double payload with an Indian telecoms satellite, riding atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. The launch from the Kourou spaceport took place at 1933 local time (2233GMT) on Wednesday. The MSG-2 (Meteosat Second Generation 2) satellite is, as the name suggests, the second in the new series to be placed in orbit; MSG-1 was launched back in 2002. The new spacecraft was sent to a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,800km above the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of equatorial Africa. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

French doctors have successfully separated twins joined at the spine, the first operation of its kind in France, hospital officials said Wednesday. Fifteen-month-olds named Mohamed and Souleymane were successfully separated on Dec. 15. Similar operations have previously been performed in Britain, South Africa and Canada, the surgeons said. "As soon as they woke up on the operating table, the twins moved their legs and their feet. Today, their prognosis is good," said doctor Gabriel Lena, head of the pediatric neurosurgery division of the La Timone hospital....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1430940

As of Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005, at least 2,158 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,694 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians. The AP count is two fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated at 10 a.m. EST Wednesday. The British military has reported 98 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia one death each. Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,019 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,585 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1430888

Israel said on Wednesday it would ban East Jerusalem Arabs from voting in a Palestinian election next month if militant Islamic group Hamas takes part — a move Palestinian officials said could delay the vote. Israel allowed Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to vote in Palestinian Authority elections in 1996 and at the start of the year when they elected Mahmoud Abbas president. But a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel will not allow voting in Jerusalem for the January 25 poll because Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction and has spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign, is running for the first time. I thought the people were to be free to vote for who they wanted in the so-called Democracies??? But I would guess what Democracy is, you get to vote for only those who have been approved by those who hold the power to control who can be on the ballots. Well you still get to keep the illusion of a free vote....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1429019

Saddam Hussein has been beaten and tortured by the Americans, he has alleged at his trial in Baghdad. "I have been beaten on every place of my body, and the signs are all over my body," he told the court. Christopher Reid of the US Embassy in Baghdad rejected the allegation, telling CNN it was "absolutely bogus". Saddam Hussein is on trial over the killing of 148 people in the Iraqi Shia village of Dujail in 1982. He denies responsibility for the deaths. The prosecution ridiculed his claim of torture, saying the former Iraqi leader was being held in an air-conditioned room when some of Baghdad had no power. Saddam Hussein had spent much of the day listening quietly as two witnesses testified against him and seven associates. They said Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti - a former intelligence chief who is also on trial - had been present when they were tortured. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4550314.stm

The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to cut federal deficits by $39.7 billion on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote. The measure, the product of a year's labors by the White House and congressional Republicans, imposes the first restraints in nearly a decade of federal benefit programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and student loans. "This is the one vote you'll have this year to reduce the rate of growth of the federal government," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, in a final plea for passage. But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada countered that the GOP was advancing "an ideologically driven, extreme, radical budget. It caters to lobbyists and an elite group of ultraconservative ideologues here in Washington, all at the expense of middle class Americans," he said. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10559749/from/RSS/